The Monarch

Monarchs are classic migrators that arrive in North America roughly from March to July. Their fascinating life history has been closely catalogued by many resources. The progeny of these butterflies generally emerge in late summer to early fall and then migrate either to Mexico or to Coastal California to spend the winter.

Click
here for a video presentation on how to find monarch eggs and caterpillars
in the right habitat in Northern Utah and the Intermountain West.

When a last instar monarch caterpillar is through feeding, it will seek out a spot to form a chrysalis. It accomplishes this by attaching itself either to a leaf, stem, or elsewhere using silk to create what we call a cremaster. Once it sheds its skin, it will form its chrysalis. Photo courtesy Nicky Davis.

To emerge your adult monarch, select a plastic tub or margarine tub that is big enough to hold your adult monarch. Remember to have paper towel taped or glued around the sides so that the butterfly walk around and have room to dry its wings.

As the chrysalis develops into an adult butterfly, you can see the wings of the butterfly showing through the pupal shell. This butterfly is only a few hours away from emerging. Place container in a dark closet to minimize how much the butterfly flies once it emerges. Photo courtesy Nicky Davis.

Photo taken by William Zittrich showing the differences in the wing markings of a male vs. a female monarch. The male has two pheromone pouches and a thinner wing venation as compared to a female. William's website is http://www.wyllz.com/id177.htm.